As I was volunteering at teen shelters and homeless shelters, I kept noticing the dogs that were often accompanying the humans. More often than not, the dogs were healthy and happy. I then realized the humans were taking better care of their dogs than they were of themselves. I talked to my mom about this and together we came up with Food4Fido & Friends. An organization to help feed the dogs of homeless or disadvantaged people. My thinking is, by helping them take better care of their dogs, they will take better care of themselves.
The Seattle Times covered this very topic in their Project Homeless series.